A new survey has revealed that 87 percent of women and girls have been sexually harassed in public spaces in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Findings of the survey on 1,500 women and girls by international development organization ActionAid were announced at a forum on sexual violence in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The harassment was committed in many forms including teasing, passing remarks on appearance, staring at sensitive body parts and touching intentionally, according to the survey.

But 66 percent of women and girls said they did not take action because they thought these acts were “normal," or they lacked trust in the authorities, or feared the stigma from the community.

The survey also revealed that most perpetrators of sexual harassment are young men, aged between 15 and 25.

Nguyen Trong Dam, deputy minister of social affairs, told the forum that sexual violence against women happens not only on the streets but also at home.

Dam quoted a 2010 national survey by the General Statistics Office as saying that 58 percent of married Vietnamese women experience at least one form of physical, sexual or emotional violence by their husbands in their lives.